knickstorrents wrote:nixluva wrote:The Heat have trouble when you have a guy that can breakdown a defense just like they have with Bron and Wade. This is the reason why you'd want to add a guy like Melo or even Ellis. You want a guy that is nearly impossible to guard so that it breaks down their D which when it's set is very tough to beat. They swarm to the ball so quickly once a player puts the ball on the floor. They also recover very quickly if you pass the ball, but you have to do that and then attack as well. You can't just pass the ball around the perimeter against the Heat. They're too quick.So adding Melo could actually be a huge improvement in going against the Heat. If you're only losing one starter then I don't see the issue. If it's gonna be Gallo and Chan then it's a tougher sell, but you would have to promote a guy like walker into the rotation and give Williams more of a look. It's still doable.
I would argue that someone who can dribble penetrate is more important to breaking down the Heat defense than someone like a Melo. Melo doesn't take good shots, and he tends to clog the lane, and he does not pass very well. You will not be able to beat the Heat defense with a player like that. You need excellent ball movement and excellent outside shooting. I would argue that a D'Antoni offense is the one offense that is designed from the ground up to beat the Heat defense.
If the D'Antoni offense is clicking there's no good way to defend it. The Celtics were the top defense in the league (they allow 91.2 points/game) and we made them play OUR game, we dictated the tempo and they followed it. In a playoff series that is what's important, dictating the terms and making the other team uncomfortable. We just couldn't get it done that game, but the Celts are way deeper and we lost by 2 points. 2 more seconds and we would have won!!!
In my opinion, either Melo or Amare can share the floor at the same time on offense. They are both lane cloggers, and Amare is a better finisher and shoots a better percentage, so I don't see the net benefit of a Melo.
Players like Ellis, or Kevin Martin even who can break down defenses, with excellent perimeter shot making are better fits for Amare. If we got Melo, would he be down with taking similar pay to Wade/Lebron, and would he be good with playing off the bench? If we max Melo we are already behind the Heat because we'd be paying an inferior player more money.
we already have a dribble penetrator on this team by the name of Ray Felton... if u put Melo on the wing w/Amare in the frontcourt, how do u possibly defend against that type of attack? having elite players at both F positions & an Allstar calibre PG, that's as good as anything we could hope for to match up with Miami's big 3... i agree w/ur point about also needing a 3 pt shooter to stretch the defense, but u don't need an elite player to fill that type of role... guys like BJ Armstrong, John Paxson & Steve Kerr did that for the Bulls because they were left wide open by teams that had to defend against Jordan & Pippen... someone like Shawne Williams or Toney Douglas could easily fill that type of role for you if you play them next to 2 superstars.
& i dunno where u get the idea that Melo can't dribble penetrate... he's got tremendous handle for a SF & is one of the most explosive players in the NBA in getting to the hole & finishing at the rim... i would also argue that it's more important to add a guy like Melo who can create his own shot to this squad so that you have 2 guys that can match the production that Lebron & Wade will put up on any given night if you want to have any kind of chance to beat the Heat in a playoff series... ball movement is always important, but the defense they play clogs up the passing lanes & gets them steals, which accounts for much of their easy fastbreak scoring opportunities... if u have a guy like Melo who can beat the double teams on his own & either score or get to the foul line while drawing contact, it does 2 things... first, it takes a lot of pressure off of Amare's shoulders & he wouldn't have to face the constant double & triple teams in the paint... second, & most importantly, it puts a ton of pressure on Lebron, Wade & Bosh's shoulders to focus a lot more energy on playing defense on the other end of the floor & quite possibly puts them into foul trouble... is that a proven formula to beat the Heat? no one seems to be having much luck these days so who's to say for certain? but it allows u to match up better personel wise... the rest is up to the players to execute on the floor.
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.
